Urzael

Urzael
Title	Harbinger of Death
Gender	Male
Race	Angel
Affiliation	High Heavens (formerly) Reapers
Occupation	Servant of Malthael
Status	Deceased
Appearances	Diablo III: Reaper of Souls The Art of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

Urzael, Harbinger of Death was the co-leader of the Reapers and a loyal follower of Malthael.

Biography

Joining the Reaper

Urzael before joining the Reapers

Urzael was Malthael's most loyal servant and lieutenant. After his master's disappearance from the High Heavens, he spent years pleading for the Angiris Council to allow him to search for his master. Eventually the Council agreed to his request. He was accompanied by a sect of angelic maidens who were Malthael's closest followers. Urzael swore not to rest until he found his master, for he believed that Malthael's presence was sorely needed in Heaven. As Malthael had taken a growing interest in humanity prior to his disappearance, Tyrael suggested that Urzael begin his search on Sanctuary.

Searching the mortal realm, Urzael did not find his master, but he did find humans—far too many for his liking. He saw how they murdered and cheated one another while turning a blind eye to the unfortunate. While humanity had the capacity to choose between good and evil, Urzael noted that they overwhelmingly chose the latter option. Urzael became disgusted with humanity, and believed that if they should ever unlock their nephalem birthright, the Heavens would be doomed.

Eventually, Urzael found Malthael, and was not surprised to find that his master felt the same way about humanity as he did. They resolved to scour humanity from the face of Creation.

Harbinger of Death

"My master has begun his work on the stone. Nothing that you do matters. Soon, demonspawn like you will be gone forever."

- Urzael to the Nephalem^(src)

Urzael confronts the Nephalem

Malthael's forces, dubbed the Reapers, moved against the mortal realm, starting with Westmarch. By this time, Urzael's form had become large and fleshy, a hulking brute of a creature. Urzael commanded the Reapers attacking Westmarch, and aware of the Nephalem's presence took measures to try to kill and delay them. His attempts failed however and the Soul Crucibles harvesting the souls of Westmarch were destroyed. Without the Crucibles to directly harvest the souls, Urzael rained fire down upon the city, aiming to kill its remaining inhabitants in a massive conflagration. Urzael was confronted by the Nephalem in the Westmarch tower, and claimed that the fight had already been lost. In the ensuing battle however, Urzael was defeated.

In-game

Urzael's in-game model

Urzael appears in Act V of Diablo III as a boss. The combat starts as soon as player gets to the second floor of the Tower of Korelan. The arena is of a rectangular shape, with two Health Fountains in two opposite corners. Urzael does not have a normal attack, instead using his cannon-like weapon to perform a variety of fire-based special attacks. He has the following abilities:

Phase 1

• Blazing Leap: Urzael will spend some time preparing for the leap, noticeable by the marker at both his initial location and destination. Upon the leap, both areas are blasted for heavy Fire damage. The area Urzael leaps to will also afflict Knockback.
• Cannonball: Urzael performs a short-ranged charged shot that releases a fiery orb in front of him (his aim does not follow the player, shooting in the direction the target was at the moment the shot was initiated). This orb hits for very high amount of Fire damage. In Phase 2, it also leaves a trail of fire that burns for significant damage over time.
• Ceiling Shot: Urzael fires upwards, causing the burning debris to fall down. Markers give the player(s) some warning as to where the rubble will land. Being hit causes Fire damage and Knockback. In Phase 2, the debris remain where they landed for a time, dealing Fire damage over time if stood on, and no longer deal Knockback, but linear debris will fall instead of round pieces.

Phase 2

At 65% health, Urzael will stun all players and set the whole building on fire, indicating that phase 2 started. After his dialogue, his weapon will turn into a gargoyle-like empowered hand cannon, before the players recover from the stun. He retains all of his abilities from Phase 1, increases their damage and recharge rate, and gains two new attacks:

• Breath of Flame: Urzael can also use the cannon like a flamethrower, sending flames outward in a steady arc in front of him. This does very fast ticks of high damage, enough that even the hardiest of heroes would have a difficult time surviving the full onslaught, especially on higher difficulty levels. This attack is most likely the first that he will use after the players recover from their stun.

• Fiery Swing: Urzael can swing the cannon like a club, with a small preparation time. Only used if there is a player in melee range and all other attacks are on cooldown. Deals both Physical and Fire damage.

On Torment difficulty, Urzael has a hard enrage timer of 4 minutes. After that, all of his attacks set the heroes on fire, dealing continuous Fire damage until the combat ends, stacking with each other. It is still possible to kill him after the enrage, though.

A nephalem hero can make the battle trivial through the use of a Star of Azkaranth. With that equipped, Urzael will be little more than a hardy obstacle, even after his Enrage timer has taken effect.

In the Walk in the Park event he ambushes the player character, luring them into a trap with a (seemingly) unguarded chest, knowing they would go after it.

Urzael's in-game portrait (note the skull-shaped face and teeth

Quotations

• "We must do everything in our power to slow The Nephalem down so that the collection of souls is not interrupted. It is the key to Malthael's victory." (The Souls of Westmarch)
• "NOOOOOO!" (upon destruction of the second soul crucible)
• "My master has begun his work on the stone - nothing that you do matters." (Before changing his skin color)
• "Soon, demonspawn like you will be gone forever."
• "The demonspawn shall perish in flames." (Before enlarging his flamethrower)
• "After years of my pleading, the Angiris Council has finally agreed to send me in search of Malthael - I will not fail in this, as my master's presence is sorely needed in the High Heavens. Owing to Malthael's growing fascination with the humans, Tyrael has suggested I begin my search on Sanctuary." (Urzael's Journal, Part 1)
• "I did not find Malthael on Sanctuary... but I did find humans... FAR too many of them. They murder and cheat one another while allowing their brothers to starve. If their true power is ever released, we're all doomed. They have a choice between good and evil, and they overwhelmingly choose evil." (Urzael's Journal, Part 2)
• "I grew disgusted by humanity during my time on Sanctuary. When at last I found Malthael, I was not surprised to learn that he felt the same way - we will cleanse creation of the scourge that is human kind, and when we are finished, the tragic mistake of Inarius will be gone." (Urzael's Journal, Part 3)
• "Nephalem, I knew the greed that infects your kind would not let you pass this chest by, and now, you shall suffer for it!" (Urzael's Trap)

Trivia

This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.

• With the exception of randomly generated affixes of Elites, Urzael and his Maidens of Flame are the only Reapers with an elemental affinity of Fire (while other Reapers are attuned to Cold, and Exorcists are attuned to Lightning).
• Urzael is the only named angel to be seen with bare skin (which is pale in color) and face being of color other than black (in his cold and fiery forms).
• During the battle, he can be heard maniacally laughing when using his abilities. This makes him the first (and so far, only) angel in the series to laugh.